City Attorney

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The current city attorney is Yamir Gonzalez-Velez. The role of city attorney has two components: advice and action. This position is appointed by the Executive, which is Mayor Kitchell. Yamir serves the City by serving in a capacity of advising the Department Heads on every day issues. She attends meetings including: City Council, Board of Works, Logansport Municipal Building Corporation (LMBC), Plan Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals, Re-Development Commission (TIF), and anything else that the Executive deems necessary.

Occasionally, the city attorney may also need to take a defensive role against those who seek to act against the city and an active role against those who have harm the city (financially).

The duties of the city attorney are spelled out in the statute below:

IC 36-4-9-12 Head of department of law; powers and duties Sec. 12. The head of the department of law shall:
(1) manage the legal affairs of the city;
(2) prosecute violators of city ordinances;
(3) give legal advice to the officers, departments, boards, commissions, and other agencies of the city;
(4) draft ordinances or other legal papers for the city and its departments, boards, commissions, and other agencies when requested by the proper officer;
(5) maintain custody of the records of his office and turn them over to his successor in office;
(6) make all title searches and examine all abstracts required in public work of any kind, including opening, widening, or changing a street, alley, or public place;
(7) promptly commence all proceedings necessary or advisable for the protection or enforcement of the rights of the city or the public;
(8) use all diligence to collect costs, fees, and recoveries within the scope of his duties;
(9) report, in writing, to the city executive all matters that he considers important; and
(10) report, in writing, to the city fiscal officer all judgments for which the city is liable. Officers, departments, boards, commissions, and other agencies of the city may not employ attorneys without the authorization of the head of the department of law.